J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

This page contains three landscape sketches, executed with the book turned horizontally.

In his 1909 Inventory of the Turner Bequest, A.J. Finberg, inspired by his interpretation of Turner’s inscription in the top left corner, identified the subject of the drawings as ‘Views on [the] coast near “Nice”’.1 More recently, the art historian Maurice Guillaud has alternatively proposed that the principal design, occupying the majority of the picture space, represents a distant view of Fréjus.2 Geographer and Turner researcher has expanded on this tentative identification, suggesting the view depicts the bay of Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël, as seen from the west.3 The distinctive trees, at the centre of the composition, are said to be reminiscent of the sea pines which are a common feature of the landscape in this area.4

The Roman port town of Fréjus is situated on France’s Mediterranean coastline, approximately fifty miles north-east of Toulon, the starting point of the journey described in this sketchbook. Turner appears to have taken an inland route to Fréjus from Toulon, before continuing on to the city of Cannes, approximately twenty-five miles away. For a more detailed overview of Turner’s itinerary through this region, see the Introduction to this sketchbook. For additional views of Fréjus and Saint-Raphaël see folios 3 verso, 4 recto and 66 verso–74 recto (D21276, D21277, D21391–D21406).

Courtot describes the subject of the drawing in the top right corner of this page as an unidentified mountainous coast.5 Guided by Turner’s inscription, he presumes the sketch in the top left corner to be a distant view of Nice, which, owing to the respective location and geographical distance between Fréjus and Nice, would suggest that this particular design (and possibly the other drawing on the right) was executed on a different occasion to the central composition. This is quite feasible, although it is also possible that Turner’s inscription has been misinterpreted and the sketches represent views of a location closer to Fréjus.

Technical notes:

Yellow staining along the edges of the page is most likely the result of 1928 Tate Gallery flood (see under sketchbook introduction).